France to cut Mali troops, defence spend flat

France will reduce its troop numbers in Mali to 2,000 by July and to 1,000 by the end of the year, down from 4,000 at present, President Francois Hollande said on Thursday. Hollande said France was determined that Mali should hold elections as scheduled in July but insisted that France did not have a preferred candidate. "The days when France chose Africa's heads of state for it are over," he told French television in an interview of more than one hour to defend his 10-month-old government's record.

The West African former colony is to hold a presidential election on July 7 and legislative elections two weeks later - vital steps to stabilise the gold- and cotton-producer after a French intervention which has helped the Malian army claw back large parts of its vast, desert north from heavily armed rebels.

Hollande reiterated France's official policy of not giving in to ransom demands for kidnap victims and said intelligence suggested that Philippe Verdon, a French hostage snatched in Mali in 2011, could already be dead.

Hollande also said there would be no cuts to the country's 31-billion-euro annual defence budget next year despite pressure to save billions of euros in public spending.

Hollande's Socialist government is eyeing its defence budget as it struggles to pare down a large public spending bill and meet public deficit targets, telling ministries they must save an extra 5 billion euros in 2014.

The military has been braced for the sharpest cuts, with some analysts predicting that France may have to sell its only aircraft carrier to meet a possible cumulative savings target of 15-30 billion euros between 2014 and 2019.

"We will spend exactly the same amount in 2014 as in 2013," the Socialist president said during an interview on France 2 television, announcing an effective freeze on spending next year.

Hollande gave no details on spending beyond 2014. Analysts have predicted the military budget, currently at 1.56 percent of gross domestic product, will be cut even further below a recommended NATO level of 2 percent of GDP.

The country's top seven defence contractors including Thales , Safran and Nexter wrote to Hollande this month warning him of the risk of cutting back on defence spending amid high unemployment